The real cost of moving house in Leeds in 2026

The average home in Leeds sold for £249,000 in June 2026, according to the ONS housing prices data for Leeds, updated in August 2026. That is up 5.9% in a year, and still £23,000 below the UK average of £272,000, which is why a full move in Leeds costs thousands less than the same move in the southern cities. Tax depends on your circumstances, and this is general information rather than advice.

What Leeds prices look like

On the same ONS page, terraced houses average £207,000, semi-detached homes £273,000, detached homes £459,000 and flats £154,000. First-time buyers paid an average of £217,000 in June 2026, while home-movers paid £302,000.

Stamp duty: where Leeds wins

Stamp duty land tax, which applies in England and Northern Ireland, is banded: nothing up to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, then 5% to £925,000. On the £249,000 Leeds average that is 2% of £124,000, or £2,480. A home-mover at £302,000 pays £5,100. A first-time buyer at the Leeds first-time average of £217,000 pays nothing at all, because first-time buyer relief covers purchases up to £300,000.

The £250,000 band boundary does real work in Leeds because the average sits just below it. A terraced buyer at £207,000 pays £1,640, while a semi buyer at £273,000 pays £3,650. In Bristol, where the average home costs £357,000, the equivalent buyer pays £7,850.

Landlords and second-home buyers face a different bill. The 5% additional-property surcharge applies to the whole price, so a buy-to-let purchase at the £249,000 average carries £12,450 of surcharge on top of the standard £2,480, a total of £14,930.

Selling costs

Rightmove's most recent agent-fee data, reported via Which?, puts the average estate agent fee at 1.3% including VAT, which is £3,237 on the average Leeds home. Selling conveyancing runs £600 to £800. An EPC costs £60 to £120, though certificates last 10 years, so check the register before ordering a new one.

Buying costs

Conveyancing for a purchase runs £300 to £1,500 in legal fees plus up to £700 of disbursements such as searches and Land Registry fees. A RICS Level 2 survey costs £400 to £1,000, typically £600 to £700 at Leeds price levels. For the city's large stock of Victorian terraces, a full Level 3 building survey at £630 to £1,500 is often the better buy, because repair estimates on older stock are where surveys pay for themselves.

Removals

For a move of around 10 miles, expect £450 to £550 for a one or two bed home, about £800 for a three bed and £1,100 for a four bed, with volume and distance driving the price. Quotes vary widely between firms for identical jobs, which makes this the easiest line on the bill to shrink.

The full bill, worked

Sell at the £249,000 average and buy at the £302,000 home-mover average, and the bill reads: £3,237 agent fee, £700 selling conveyancing, £1,050 buying conveyancing, £5,100 stamp duty, £650 survey, £800 removals and £90 for an EPC. Total: £11,627 to move house in Leeds. Our guides to moving costs in London, Manchester and Birmingham run the same exercise for comparison.

A first-time buyer at £217,000 faces a different bill entirely: no agent, no sale, no stamp duty, so roughly £1,050 of conveyancing, £650 of survey and £800 of removals, about £2,500 all in. Few English cities let a first purchase land that lightly.

The two lines a Leeds mover can actually control are the agent's percentage and the removals quote. For the second, you can compare removal quotes and conveyancing quotes at Moving Compared in a couple of minutes.